What is Bildungsroman?

A popular label for our blog posts is bildungsromans. What is it you ask? Per the Oxford English Dictionary, bildungsroman is "a novel that has as its main theme the formative years or spiritual education of one person" Origin of the word bildungsroman is German, "bildung" for education and "roman" for novel. Simply put, it is a coming-of-age tale.

Interested in reading one? Check out one of these titles:

One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker
Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell
Whistling Past the Graveyard
Rules for Becoming a Legend by Timothy S. Lane
Pelican Point by Donna Kauffman

  • One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker: Livie faces a new set of challenges as she navigates freshman year at Princeton, a time involving wild parties and Ashton, the gorgeous rowing team captain. Facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, Livie’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father, and, with it, the only identity she’s ever known. 
  • Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell: Faced with an unexpected pregnancy in her 20s, Lesley, who has overcome sexual abuse and a troubled adolescence to become a social services success story, must fight for her unborn daughter when the same team that saved her as a teenager questions whether she is fit to be a mother. 
  • Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall: Fleeing her strict grandmother's home in 1963 Mississippi, 9-year-old Starla Claudelle becomes an unlikely companion to an African-American woman at whose side she learns harsh lessons about period segregation and family. 
  • Rules for Becoming a Legend by Timothy S. Lane: Destined for a legendary future in the NBA, a young basketball prodigy begins suffering the tragedies that have cursed his family for generations and destroyed his father's sports dreams, a situation that compels him to find a way to break the cycle.
  • Pelican Point by Donna Kauffman: Hoping to reconnect with herself after suffering a personal tragedy, Alex McFarland agrees to renovate the Pelican Cove lighthouse and finds herself falling in love instead.
Looking for more bildungsromans? Click the label below or stop by the reference desk on the main floor of the library to speak with a reference librarian.

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